Fr. Z’s prayers for before and after hearing confessions

As I was rooting around for something I posted in the past, I found this which, by coincidence, I posted 3 years ago to the day.

Here are the prayers I usually say before and after hearing confessions.

They are taken from a small, old prayer book for priests from 1935.

We need new editions of these old prayer books for priests!

I have used these prayers during my whole priesthood now, over a quarter century. They say it all. You could do a lot worse, Fathers, than to adopt them as your own. They provide a realistic view of the gravity of the office and work of the confessor. They hold up ideals… ideals – which back in the day – we were expected to attain without namby-pamby excuses. They are a mirror in which we can scrutinize ourselves as confessors. They are at the same time sobering and consoling.

In the following, I added accents to help your pronunciation. Over time, they become old friends. The Latin, frankly, is richer in content then the translations, below. I provide a recording of the prayers in Latin, at the end.

Grant to me, O Lord, that wisdom seated beside Thy throne, that I may know how to judge Thy people with justice, and Thy poor ones with discernment. Make me so to use the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that I may open the gates to no one upon whom they should be closed, nor close them upon any for whom they should be opened. May my intention be pure, my zeal sincere, my charity patient, my labor fruitful. Let there be in me a gentleness which is not negligent, a severity which is not harsh; let me not look down upon the poor, nor let me fawn upon rich. Make me pleasant for attracting sinners, prudent in questioning them, resourceful in directing them. Grant, I beseech Thee, ingenuity for drawing them back from sin, earnestness in confirming them in good, diligence in urging them to better things. Grant me mature judgment in responses, rectitude in advice, light in obscure matters, wisdom in complications, victory in adversities. Let me not be delayed in useless conversations, neither let me be stained by perversities. Let me save others, and let me not lose myself. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, sweet lover and sanctifier of souls, I pray Thee, through the infusion of the Holy Spirit, purify my heart from every corrupt feeling or thought and, through Thy infinite compassion and mercy, deign to make good any transgression whatsoever made by me in my service due to my negligence or my ignorance. I commend to Thy most lovable wounds all the souls whom Thou hast drawn to repentance, and whom Thou hast sanctified by Thy Precious Blood, so that Thou mayest preserve them from every sin, keep them in Thy love and in Thy fear, promote more virtues in them each day, and lead them to eternal life. Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, accept this ministry of my obedience with that surpassing love with which Thou didst absolve Saint Mary Magdalene and all sinners flying to Thee for refuge, and deign Thyself to supply and satisfy whatsoever in the administration of this Sacrament I performed negligently and less than worthily. I commend to Thy most sweet Heart each and every person who has just now confessed to me, begging that Thou mayest guard them and keep them from backsliding and, after the misery of this life, that thou mayest lead them with me to joys everlasting. Amen.

I used good ol’ “Thou” and retained something of the flowery style of yesteryear because, after all, there’s really nothing wrong with that at all.

I have turned on the combox moderation. I will accept comments from priests or bishops, which I receive in the combox or in email, and I will even anonymize them on request. I will more than likely not – not – post any comment made by a lay person or a permanent deacon. I am not really talking to you. Go ahead and call it clericalism: you are merely being permitted to listen in because, given that this is a blog, I can’t stop you. Read HERE if you want my defense. I might… might… post something of a transitional deacon or a seminarian (still laity)… might. Make it really good. Impress me.

Finally, lay people, please pray for your priests. Pray that they will soften and hear confessions if they don’t or won’t. Pray that they will be good and faithful confessors who will use good judgment, will not not use false charity or false compassion, will not fake in order to be liked, and will always do his best with the help of God’s grace.

Just a short note after a full day and an excellent Mass of Confirmation (the Bishop preached a great sermon) in the Parish to thank you for exhorting Priests to use these prayers before and after hearing Confessions. They are not only beautiful, but since we believe that God actually does hear our prayers, and since the Good Book tells us that Wisdom comes to those who are solicitous for her, they ask from the Lord just what we really need as confessors. You know so well what it is to tremble before the task of reconciling the penitent and being an instrument of their salvation. You know well the ache in a Priest’s heart to draw this penitent to true contrition or to assist that fervent soul in growing unto the full measure of Christ Jesus. These prayers ask from the same Jesus the graces we need to do just that and so many other things that they mention.

As for myself, I keep a copy of the “prayer before” in the confessional (as do some of my brothers in this Diocese) and I use it every time or nearly every time. I confess that the “prayer after” gets prayed less often as I am too often running to the Sacristy to pray before Mass and to vest. I do propose to myself to strive to take the time to pray it after, at least when I do not have Mass straightaway.

Again, many thanks and may the holy missionary Saint John Capistrano intercede for you.

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Let us pray…

Grant unto thy Church, we beseech
Thee, O merciful God, that She, being
gathered together by the Holy Ghost, may
be in no wise troubled by attack from her
foes.
O God, who by sin art offended and by
penance pacified, mercifully regard the
prayers of Thy people making supplication
unto Thee,and turn away the scourges of
Thine anger which we deserve for our sins.
Almighty and Everlasting God, in
whose Hand are the power and the
government of every realm: look down upon
and help the Christian people that the heathen
nations who trust in the fierceness of their
own might may be crushed by the power of
thine Arm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee
in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world
without end. R. Amen.

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